Various species of bees are responsible for 90% of all pollination of flora. It is a widely publicized fact that the North American “colony or honey” bee population has experienced a dramatic decrease in the past several years. While the actual cause is still under investigation (and may prove to be a result of a virus spread by aphids living within the hive), the result is no mystery. Crops which rely upon bees for pollination, including most fruits, vegetable, food and textile crops, are in jeopardy of drastically reduced yields.
While finding a cure to restore/repopulate the honey bee hives may take years, an immediate cure to the loss of pollinators is readily available with the implementation of the present invention. There are 97 species of native solitary bees, some of which are yet to be catalogued, indigenous to North America. Just some of the species of solitary bees include carpenter bees, leaf cutting bees, giant resin bees, mason bees, and squash bees, to name a few. On the whole, the solitary bees are far more efficient pollinators than honey bees and, hence, an orchard or field can be readily pollinated by a much smaller number of bees than would be required if only honey bees were available. However, these native bees tend to be far more localized in their flight patterns, remaining within a few hundred yards of the hatching place. Accordingly, it is incumbent upon the horticulturalist to foster hatching of these bees in the vicinity of her/his field, garden, or orchard.
Some native bees seek habitat in standing deadwood and are actually drawn to deadwood timber by the scent of the CO2 which its decomposing fibers exude. Some of the prior patents have attempted to formulate bee habitats from treated wood and/or paper or non-wood materials. Native bees will not, typically be attracted to such habitats and, hence, efforts to foster propagation of native bees using these manmade materials have proven to be largely ineffective. A queen bee will typically lay between 60 and 60,000 eggs during her three year life span. The queen will typically find a hole of suitable depth formed in a standing dead tree which has been pecked by woodpecker or other bird. She lays a single egg in the cavity and covers it over. The bee will hatch, typically in about 20 days.
In addition to being attracted to standing deadwood, native bees are attracted by brightly colored objects, normally in connection with their pursuit of nectar, but the present invention proposes to lure the native bees to the bee propagation pole by decorating the pole with four ribbons, one each of the primary colors, blue, red and yellow and including white.
Solitary bees, having no hive or territory to protect, are not prone to the aggressive behavior of honey bees nor are they capable of the multiple stings for which some bees/wasps are known. Different species of bees seek out/prefer different sized holes in the standing deadwood and, accordingly, the bee propagation pole of the present invention offers a variety of (seven or more) diameter habitats. Native bees will start working in weather which is up to 5° colder than honey bees will, and will work in overcast conditions and high humidity, honey bees being often discouraged by such weather conditions. An additional benefit is that the presence of native bees in the honey bees' collection zone cause them to work, up to five times as hard in seeking nectar and, hence, in pollinating the plants. Certain species of bees even hatch out in late winter and are therefore, available to begin pollination of the earliest of spring crops.
The bee propagation pole of the present invention comprises a) a length of untreated deadwood timber having a flattened face on a portion of that length; b) a first group of holes having a first diameter to foster propagation of a first type of solitary bee; c) at least one additional group of holes having a second larger diameter to foster propagation of a second type of solitary bee. The length of untreated deadwood timber may have an above ground length falling in a range of between 3 and 9 feet and a diameter of between 2″ and 6″. All but one of the first group of holes is drilled to a uniform first depth, with that one first hole being drilled deeper to foster growth of a queen bee of the first type of solitary bee. Hole depth of 0.5″ will produce a worker bee and a depth of 0.75″ will result in a queen bee. Similarly, all but one of the second group of holes is drilled to a uniform second depth, with the one second hole being drilled deeper to foster growth of a queen bee of the second type of solitary bee. Preferably, a plurality of ribbons are suspended from the bee pole, the ribbons having colors designed to attract solitary bees, the plurality most preferably including at least four, one of each of the primary colors red, blue and yellow and white.
Another facet of the present invention comprises a method of fostering the propagation of native solitary bees including the steps of a) fashioning a length of deadwood timber by shaving at least a portion of that length to form a flat face, drilling multiple pluralities of different diameter holes in the flat face; b) affixing a plurality of different colored ribbons to a portion of the length; c) inserting a bottom portion of the length into a piece of ground adjacent a field, garden or orchard to be pollinated, to a depth between 1.5 and 2 feet with the flat face turned in a east south easterly direction to greet a rising sun.
Various other features, advantages, and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent after a reading of the following detailed description.